It doesn’t happen as much as we’d like. We worry they spend too much time on their screens. We’re worried our kids don’t play enough, don’t explore enough, aren’t curious enough, are stuck inside too much, are too coddled and comfortable.

And yet, here they are, asking if they can go meet their friends down the street, here they are asking if they can get the sled down from the attic, here they are asking for a ride to the park, here they are asking for tickets to a music festival, here they are asking for camping gear…and you have a problem with it?

Your kids are asking to do something in the real world…say yes!

This is what you say you want! This is what you know is good for them! This is the stuff you remember about your own childhood!

Well? Encourage it. Support it. Help make it possible. Help them build the habit, build the comfort, build the relationships that will mean they do this more.

Don’t complain. Don’t be lazy. Seize the opportunity. They don’t come as often as we’d like…probably because of reactions and hesitations just like this.

P.S. If you want your kids to love being outside, Steven Rinella’s Outdoor Kids in an Inside World: Getting Your Family Out of the House and Radically Engaged with Nature is one of my favorite parenting books, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Pick up your copy from The Painted Porch today!